Rail-joint



(No Model.)

G. PALMER.

RAIL JOINT.

No. 245,551. Patented Aug. 9,1881.

STATES PATENT FFIC@ RAIL-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 245,551, dated August9, 1881.

AApplication filed May 2, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known thatJI, GEORGE PALMER, ofLittlestown, in the county of Adams and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Continuous Rails and Ido herebydeclare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of thesame.

My invention is an improved joint for railway-rails, more particularlyfor the repair of 1o joints where the rails have become frayed orbattered at their ends by passage of trains; but it is also applicable,with good effect, to rails when first laid.

My invention lconsists of a piece having inclined faces abutting againstthe inclined ends of the rails, forming, with the rails, a continuoustread, and adapted to receive thesh-plates, which are combinedtherewith, and to be supported by said fish-plates, upon which theinterposed piece rests.

Heretofore it has been customary when the ends of the rails have becomefrayed or battered to cut them off and shift the rails endwise tocompensate for the part removed. Attempts have been heretofore made toprovide a splice for railway/rails with beveled or inclined faces,which, coming ush with the surface or tread of the rail, should make acontinuous splice or overlapping part 5 but such splices, as heretoforemade, have-not solved the difficulties which are met in practice.

In Letters Patent granted to me on the 24th day of September, 1867, No.69,241, a splice was shown having inclined faces adapted to iit againstcorrespondingly-inclined faces upon the ends of the rails, the partsbeing so connected that the wheel in passing would move partly upon thesplice and partly upon the rail while goin gover the joint; but thissplice-piece was made as a solid piece without any separate lish-plateconnected therewith, or, as shown in the drawings of said patent, with afish-plate formed as a part of the inclined splice-piece. There wereobvious ditculties in the manufacture of this splice-piece, which I havesought to overcome.

In my present invention I secure practically a continuous rail withclosed joints under all circumstances, without regard to the expansionand contraction of the rails, and I present to (No model.)

the passage of the wheels an oblique joint, so that the wheel in passingbears at all times both upon the rail and the splice-piece, and does notat any time pass abruptly from the end of one rail to the end ofanother, so that there are no open joints to batter, and no jointexposed to the direct stroke ofthe wheel in its passage. At the sametime I provide a splicepiece which can be combined with an ordinarysh-bar, which can be made cheaply, and which does not in any respectweaken the rail, and may be applied either to old rails when they needrepair, or to new rails when they are first laid down, and in eithercase will lengthen the life ot' the rails by preventing'furtherbattering and fray/ing at the ends.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the rail aslaid, and provided with my splice. Fig. 2 is a like view of a modifiedform of the interposed piece. Fig. 3 is a central transverse section ofFig.1. Figs. 4 and 5 represent the interposed pieces separately.

In these drawings A A represent the rails, which are the ordinaryHat-bottom rails, as now made, with slightlyinclined bearing-surfacesunderneath the head for the sh-plates to rest against. 'Ihe ends ofthese rails are represented in the drawings as cut in vertical planesobliquely to the rail. rIhis Obliquity may be greater or less, but forthe best results may be such as to give a splice on an ordinary rail ofeight inches. It will be understood that this oblique cut may be givento the rails when first made, or that rails which have been in use andthe ends of which have become battered may be cut in this way. Betweenthe ends of the rails thus beveled or inclined I place a section of therail, cut or shaped to t the inclined ends of the rails heretoforedescribed, so as to form, when in place betweenl the ends of said rails,a continuous rail. This interposed pieceis markedB. It may be made ofsteel or hardened iron, so as to bear better the action of the wheels.The piece B is made -up of a head, ci, and web b and anges c c, but

ICO

tie or plate the flan ges may be omitted, and the rail may be cutobliquely down to the flanges, leaving the flanges of the rails to meeteach other without any interposed flange between them, so that in thatcase there would be interposed between the oblique ends of the railsonly the head and the web. This piece is comparatively small, and may bemade cheaply, either by rolling and cutting or by swaging or casting.

It will be understood that the tread and the web of the interposed piececorrespond exactly in shape and size with the tread or head and web ofthe rails. XVhen in place the fishplates are put on in the ordinarymanner and the bolts applied, so as to hold the fish-plates in place.

A hole may be made through the web of the interposed piece, but thiswill not be necessary when the flanges c c are formed upon the piece.When these flanges are used the interposed piece will be held securelyin place, and will be supported and prevented from risin g by thefish-bars alone.

lt will be clear, from al1 inspection of Fig. 1, that the wheel, inpassing over the joint between the interposed piece and the ends ofrails, does not pass instantly from one rail to the other, or from therail to the interposed piece, but moves at all times upon both, and itsline of motion at an angle to the line of junction of the splice, sothat it is not possible for the wheel to beat against the end of therail, as is the casc with the old form of squarely-abutting rails.

In order to prevent the joints from opening I may use the oblique boltshaving bearings for the head and nut in the fish-plates parallel withthe inclined faces of the rail and interposed piece,` the direction ofthe bolts being at right angles to said faces. This permits of expansionand contraction withoutopeuing the joints, since the bolt-heads and nutsslide upon their bearings in the fish-plates parallel with the facesofthe rails, and hold with equal force, whether the rails expand orcontract, so that thejoints cannot,under anycircunistances, open unlessthe bolts are loose. This is the arrangement of bolts shown in my patentaforesaid. The bolt-holes, either in the web of the rail or in thesplice-pieces, must be slightly elongated to permit of the movementendwise of the rails. Instead of this diagonal arrangement of the bolts,however, I may use springs, either of rubber or any other material,between the fish-plates and the web of the rail, so as to keep theoverlapping ends constantly pressed toward each other, and preventthemfrom cpenin g when the rails contract. These springs may be convenientlymade of a disk, k, of rubber, which may be inserted in recesses in thefish-bar, or may be put upon the bolts between the fish-bar and therail. Of course flat springs may be used, or the fish-plate may be bowedslightly, so as to form a spring of itself.

Instead of having the interposed piece cut obliquely, as shown at B, IAmay make this interposed piece as shown at D, in which, instead ofhaving parallel oblique sides and extending through equally froni oneside of the rail to the other, the piece may be made of oblique sidesinclining toward each other in the head of the piece, or in Athat partwhich fits into the head of the rail, while the part which correspondswith the web of the rail is made plain and lies up against the web, towhich it is held, either by a bolt alone or by the ordinary bolts of thefish-plates. This piece (represented at-D) has inclined surfaces d d,tting into corresponding surfaces made vertically in the ends of thehead ofthe rail. The web-piece c lies up against the web of the rail,and the lower edge of it bears upon the bottom flanges ofthe rail, whilea part ofthe upper edge, at the ends, bears on a shoulder underneath thehead of the rail. The piece D may extend a part or the whole way acrossthe rail, as in the dotted line of' Fig. 2, or, if it extends only partof the way, one may be used on each side. Both these pieces, asdescribed, are held in place by the ordinary fish-plates E E. Theprincipal difference between the two pieces is that in that firstdescribed the web of the interposed piece is interposed between the websof the rails and forms a part thereof, while in the piece D the web ofthe piece may lie up against the web of the rail; but in both cases thefish-plate bears against the web of the interposed piece and under thehead thereof, so as to hold it in place against the rail, and to supportit, when under vertical pressure of' the passing train, exactly as thefish-plate holds up by bearing against the under side of the head of therail as ordinarily applied.

It will be observed that in the interposed piece D there is a shoulderor bearing-surface under the outside of the head of said piece,(indicated at f,) so that the piece l) has a bearing on the upper edgeof the fish-plate. The piece D may be pressed in by a single spring, g,bearing against it about midway, or by any form ot' spring heretoforedescribed, or a bolt may be passed through the center of the piece D atthe `junction of the rails.

The fish-plate may be recessed sufficiently to receive the thickness ofe in the body of the fish-plate, provided the webs at the rail ends arenot recessed to receive the same, to fit over the web e of the piece D,so as to permit it to be brought up snugly to its bearings on the web ofthe rails. If desired, the fish-plate need not be recessed, and in thiscase, being brought up against the side ofthe web ofthe piece D, theelasticity of the fish-plate itself would be sufficient to keep thepiece D pressed up constantly, so as to prevent the opening of thejoint. This piece D may be used to repair the rail at any point withoutfish-plates whenever the rail becomes battered by the Wear. It will beunderstood that in applying this piece D, last described, the flanges ofthe rail are not IOO IOS

cut at al'1 it being only necessary to bevel off the head of the rail,or the head and web.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combinationof the rail ends, cnt inclined, with an interposed piece having`corresponding inclines andprovided with a web, and an ordinary fish-baradapted to bear against the web and hold such interposed piece inposition.

2. The interposed piece B, having head, web, and flanges, as described,in combination with the rails A A and the sh'plates E E, as set forth.

3. The combination, with the railway-rails having inclined ends, of theinterposed piece formed with correspondiugly-inclined faces,fish-plates, and devices, substantially as described, for compensatingfor the expansion, whereby the joints are kept closed under allcircumstances, as set forth.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE PALMER.

Witnesses:

ALBERT H. Noimrs, F. L. MIDDLETON.

